


Mean

by yeaka



Category: Red Riding Hood (2011)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:21:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21772873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Rose comes to Roxanne after it all falls apart.
Relationships: Rose/Roxanne (Red Riding Hood)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Mean

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Red Riding Hood or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

Everybody keeps their doors locked now, but sometimes not their windows, and Rose has a relatively easy time sneaking out to Roxanne’s. She puts on her darkest cloak and creeps around the guards, sticking to the shadows, reaches the back of Roxanne’s house and gently pushes open the glass. It slides back for her, like it always has, leaving just enough room for Rose to hike up and squeeze through. It was much easier when they were young and tiny, but she’s still relatively slight, and she makes it, carefully closing it behind herself before anyone else can follow. She doesn’t think the wolf would come to Roxanne’s, because Roxanne is the sweetest person alive and deserves nothing but the best. But she’s already been tormented. It just proves there’s nothing sacred in the world. 

Rose walks through the darkness inside. Behind her, the window lets in just enough starlight to make her way. She knows the path to Roxanne’s bed by memory. She comes up to the edge of it, then reaches down, finds Roxanne’s feet beneath the blankets and brushes over one ankle. She hears Roxanne’s breath hitch, but Rose whispers, “Shh, it’s only me.”

“Rose,” Roxanne murmurs. The blankets rustle as she sits up, and then Rose has reached her, and she’s lifting the blankets—giving Rose a chance to slip beneath them. Rose kicks off her shoes, sheds her cloak, and quickly squirms beneath the sheets. Roxanne lies back down, the two of them sidling up close together. It provides almost enough body heat to erase the chill of the cruel winter outside. Rose shifts onto the same pillow as Roxanne and presses their foreheads together, bringing one hand up to cup her cheek.

It’s freshly damp. She’s been crying again. Rose completely understands. She doesn’t know if she should say anything, or if mentioning Claude would only make things worse. Roxanne rasps, “I betrayed Valerie for nothing.”

“Not for nothing,” Rose mumbles. Maybe it _feels_ like nothing now, because the new men that have come to the village are monsters, but that’s not Roxanne’s fault. She was _trying._ “You did it out of love. Valerie understands...”

“I shouldn’t have,” Roxanne gulps. She takes a shuddering breath, and Rose can hear the tears coming again, bubbling up in Roxanne’s throat and spilling out. Rose makes a soothing noise and pets Roxanne’s cheek, trying to wipe the tears away.

It’s not enough. They just keep coming. Rose doesn’t tell her to stop. Roxanne has every right to cry. All Rose can do is lie there and accept that, petting back through Roxanne’s hair and just trying to be _there for her._ Rose swears, “It’s going to be okay.”

Roxanne somehow manages to nod like she actually believes it. Rose really means it. Somehow, someday, she’s going to find a way to make Roxanne _happy_.

Tonight, there’s nothing either of them can do. Rose just holds Roxanne close and promises, “I’m here.”


End file.
